Top ten high school cafeteria items

There may have been a lot wrong with the Dallas Independent School District in the late 1980s, but cafeteria food wasn't one of them. At least not to the unsophisticated palate of a 17-year-old Cheese Fry, standing in a long line under old fluorescent lights with two dollars burning a hole in his pocket. Entrees were 95 cents, people. Two bucks and you got two lunch plates (including the beverage - which would almost always be the red fruit punch in the little plastic cups), plus a dime back in change.

1. Pepperoni pizza - We cannot verify that the little pepperoni-flavored chunks were pepperoni, but we can verify that it tasted very good. Plus, extra credit for the novelty of being rectangular, not wedge-shaped. Came in cool little cardboard containers.

2. "Fiesta Salad" - So good we've since reverse-engineered the recipe in our Cheese Fry test kitchen to bring a little taste of the 80s to today. Rice, beans, lettuce, meat, cheese, tomatoes... and the secret ingredient, Fritos.

3. Beef burritos - The Cheese Fry's political activism appeared at an early age. When the cafeteria manager inexplicably changed burrito suppliers, leading to a subpar burrito substitution, we wrote a scathing letter to the school newspaper editor. The burritos, needless to say, got changed back.

4. Little Debbie Nutty Bar - If you've ever had one, then you know what we're talking about.

5. Hamburgers - Small and simple. Like sliders before there was such a thing.

6. Chocolate milk - Admit it, you miss those little miniature cartons that you could pop open and drink from.

7. Salad bar - We thought we were being progressive and healthy. Lots of great greenery... quickly flooded with watery ranch dressing out of an industrial-sized pump bottle. Yum.

8. Rolls - We've never had a roll so fluffy and soft.

9. Salisbury steak - What public school doesn't consider this a lunch room staple?

10. Little Debbie Star Crunch - A cousin of the Nutty Bar, but slightly less expensive. And with a considerably stranger name.

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